A Malaysian woman sentenced to be caned for drinking beer has had her punishment commuted. Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno had pleaded guilty to the offence under Malaysia's Islamic law and was to have received six strokes of a rattan cane. But her family said religious officials had overturned the ruling, ordering her to carry out community service instead. Ms Kartika's original sentence, which had been delayed several times, had provoked fierce debate. While drinking alcohol is forbidden for Muslims, prosecutions are rare. Update on Malaysia: Revision of Kartika’s Case Turned Down by Registrar of Syariah Courts

Muslim activists filed a lawsuit Monday against a Malaysian women's group, asking it to remove the word "Islam" from its name on the ground that it misleads people to believe it speaks for all Muslims. The suit against Sisters in Islam, one of the most well-known nongovernment groups in this Muslim-majority country, comes after it angered conservative Muslims by criticizing Islamic Shariah laws that allow the caning of women for offenses such as drinking alcohol. Update on Malaysia: Intimidation of Sisters in Islam: Silencing Alternative Viewpoints

Malaysia's religion minister on Tuesday defended Islamic laws that allow girls under 16 to marry, amid a controversy over two youngsters who were married off to middle-aged men. The issue has flared in Malaysia after reports that two girls aged 10 and 11 were wed in the conservative northern state of Kelantan last month. They have now been removed from their husbands. Rights groups have called for the reform of Islamic laws that allow marriage under the age of 16 if religious officials give their consent. Sharia law runs in parallel with civil law in multi-ethnic Malaysia.

On February 18, the Malaysian Home Minister announced the whipping of three Muslim women for illicit sex. This came as a shock to many Malaysians as several conflicting issues raised over the whipping sentence of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno for drinking alcohol in public have not yet been resolved. Following this, Sisters in Islam (SIS) and its partners in the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) issued a statement in protest against the whipping, maintaining that we believe it is unjust, inhumane and unconstitutional. Please see attached for full statement. Update on Malaysia: Harassment of Sisters in Islam for questioning 'Syariah' caning of 3 women

The Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) has lodged police reports against The Star managing editor P. Gunasegaran and Sisters in Islam (SIS) for questioning the syariah whipping against three Muslim women for engaging in illicit sex. Mais secretary Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi said an article written by Gunasegaran had denigrated Islam and the Syariah law.

Sisters in Islam (SIS) is shocked that the Prisons Department has caned three Muslim women for shariah offences. Given that several issues on shariah and constitutional grounds, sentencing guidelines and Malaysia’s commitments to international human rights instruments that were raised on the Kartika case remain unresolved, we question the government's motive in proceeding with the caning of Muslim women.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim failed in his bid to get a stay of his sodomy trial and the hearing proper is now set to begin on Wednesday. In rejecting the stay application on Tuesday, High Court judge Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah said there were no special circumstances to warrant a stay of the sodomy trial. “I find that there is no special circumstances in the law of proceedings (shown by Anwar) to grant a stay. The trial will proceed,” he said in his ruling in a packed courtroom.

The [Sisters in Islam] SIS Forum (Malaysia) succeeded in throwing out the Home Minister’s order banning its 215-page book, Muslim Women and the Challenges of Islamic Extremism. High Court judge Justice Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof on Monday ruled that the book is not a threat to public order. He said the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia’s (Jakim) objection to the book was that it could confuse Muslims, especially those who with only a superficial knowledge of their religion, as the publication explains Islamic teachings according to the writers’ own views.

A large-scale study currently underway across Malaysia uncovers proof that polygamy harms everyone involved: from emotionally scarred children, to wives who think they’d be better off as single-parent households, and even husbands who admit “I wouldn’t recommend it for my son; it’s quite stressful.”